The Fault
by mikkimikka
Summary: Based on a short story by horror manga legend Junji Ito. After a massive earthquake hits Central Japan, Honda Kiku is compelled by a mysterious compulsion to check out the newly formed fault line on the side of Mount Daisen and examine first hand the mystery of its origin.
1. The Fault

The Fault

 _There was an earthquake in Tottori Prefecture. Several villages and town were devastated by the event. Not too long afterwards, at the epicenter, a large fault was discovered on the north slope of Mt. Daisen. This was only but a sign of the things to come..._

* * *

 _Huff Huff_

Honda Kiku took a tired step forward before his leg wobbled and he collapsed onto one knee. Winded and breathing heavily he put a hand to his chest before deciding it was better off that he rest. A slight man with a pale complexion that betrayed his propensity for the indoors, Honda was 24, with the bored expression and conservative haircut of civil servant who hadn't been hiking in years. Perhaps even a decade. He had to be a junior high school student at most the last time he'd partaken in the activity and he hadn't even liked it then.

He'd grown up in a small town in Shimane in a house near the beach. He'd spent his summers indoors assembling Gunpla while all the other children played on the beach. Now his sedentary life style showed in his clumsy footing and the way he struggled to maintain his speed on the sloping trail way up Mount Daisen.

As Honda rested, his eyes turned upwards, observing the tops of the trees all around him as they shivered under the cool breeze. The rustling sound was soothing and soon he was able to find his strength again. Pulling himself by his feet, Honda dusted the debris from his pants and continued upwards following the trail. Soon the trees were behind him and he stepped delicately over stones.

Pausing he wiped a bit of sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his shirt and let his eyes sweep around, back at the trees and around him at the rocky terrain.

"Hmm," he said lowly to himself. "Am I still on Daisen?"

Obviously he'd seen the trail head when he started hiking but it felt like hours and yet he hadn't seen or heard anything. There was no sign of the fault. It was as if there hadn't even been an earthquake at all.

He turned to pull out the map from the pocket of his sea green hiking rucksack. He opened the map in hopes of figuring out where he was on the trail. He was searching for the fault and he was beginning to wonder if him going off on this venture alone had been a mistake. Anyone would say it were a foolish thing to go off hiking alone, especially if inexperienced. But Honda didn't have any change to think. He was drawn the mountain as if it were a beacon, and as out of character it may have seemed, was compelled to answer its call.

With a sigh, Honda lowered the map ready to continue on his path let out a tiny gasp of surprise as he spotted another hiker up ahead. He quickly folded up the map, not bothering to keep it neatly along the creases and stuffed it into the mesh pocket on the side of his bag.

"H,hey!" he called, waving up at the person. "Down here!"

His naturally shy nature was overridden by the relief of the presence of another hiker.

His feet began to carry him forward and as he got closer he could make out that the 2nd hiker was a woman. She paused and waited as he stumbled over a few more rocks on his way over. She even had the curtesy to not laugh as he fell over, catching himself against the rocks with the palms of his hands.

It was good to see someone else. Hours since he'd began his journey and he hadn't seen a single soul the entire way. It was a little eerie now that he thought of it in hindsight. Wasn't the mountain supposedly filled with wild life? At the very least there'd be birds. But there was nothing.

Just his footsteps and the wind.

Finally, he reached her. She was a friendly looking girl and regarded him with an open expression and a face flushed a bit from physical activity. Her long hair, dyed brown, was tied into a low ponytail. Her bangs were a little messy from her hiking with some long hair spilling out on the right side of her face and the other side pinned back with a small flower clip. She looked younger than him, a college student perhaps?

His burst of energy from sprinting up to greet the woman caught up to him and Honda huffed out his next greeting, allowing himself to bend a little at the knees to catch his breath for a second before straightening up.

"Are you going to be OK?" she asked in accented Japanese.

So she was an exchange student, concluded Honda. He nodded. The girl seemed content with that and she turned resuming her walk. Honda fell alongside her, the trail being wide enough to allow hikers to walk abreast of each other.

"I'm Honda Kiku," he said. "What's your name?"

"I'm Wang Mei," she replied simply.

"Where are you from?"

"Taiwan," Mei replied, looking over at him a smile.

"So far," mused Honda.

"I'm studying at the woman's college," she explained.

"In Matsue?" he asked.

She nodded, "Yeah. I'm a 2nd year."

"I'm from Shimane," he replied, a little happy to find a common ground. "I grew up near the sea my whole life. And now I'm here climbing a mountain."

Mei regarded him for a second before saying, "You don't really seem like a country boy to me."

He noted the way her eyes looked down at the fresh scrapes on his hands from bumbling along the rocks. She probably noticed as well how all of his gear was new, as if purchased just for the trip and the paleness of his complexion.

"Ah, well, I'm a clerk in Yonago," he explained, raking some of his fingers through his hair. "It's been awhile since I've experienced nature."

Mei laughed at that, "That's fine! Still, how funny I meet someone else from Shimane up here. This is my first time on Mount Daisen."

"Then did you come up here to look at the fault too?"

Mei looked alarmed by the question and emitted a tiny sound of surprise. Honda back tracked.

"I mean, no offense hiking all the way up here alone," Honda tried. "Plus never having been to Tottori... I just figured that must be why."

Mei said nothing for a few minutes to that and Honda wondered if he killed the conversation. He looked up at the sky noting how blue and empty it was without a single cloud.

"When I saw it all on TV," Mei began. "It made me feel kind of restless."

When Honda glanced back at Mei he noticed she wasn't looking at him but down at the trail. Her fingers twisted the straps of her rucksack.

"Yeah?" Honda replied. "It was the same with me. It's a thing of mystery isn't it?"

Mei nodded and looked back up, now meeting Honda in the eyes.

"It's a wonder of nature. That's what they say. And the whole country... no, the world is transfixed."

"And looks at us," Honda said, with a bit of humor in his voice that didn't match the somber tone their conversation had taken. "We came all the way up here to see it."

Suddenly Mei stopped and Honda did too as she held her hand out to signal for him to do so as well. He tried to ask why she'd stopped but was hushed instead. Her voice came out in a whisper.

"Did you hear that?"

Honda furrowed his brows and tilted his head.

"It's voices," Mei said before he could reply.

"It must be the others who have come here," agreed Honda.

"I'm sure we're near the fault. Let's go, City Boy!"

"City boy?" Honda asked, shocked by the nickname.

Mei didn't reply though having already taken off. Reenergized by the sound she scrambled up further up the rocks. Honda called out after her but she didn't hesitate and he followed behind watching her Hello Kitty knapsack bop along the trail. The path only became more rugged from there but Mei was smaller with a lower center of gravity. She slid down the sloping rocks with skill and Honda couldn't do anything but do the same although with a tad bit more trouble.

They reached the bottom of the trail and it rounded a cliffside. Both hikers were tired, panting, but the voices were louder meaning they were close. Honda could feel the anticipation beating within him.

The fault! It's what he'd come all the way there for. He crept closer to Mei though there was still ample space between their bodies. Somehow all of that excitement and energy had cooled off as they rounded the bend with Honda now in front of Mei taking the lead.

Balancing with one hand along the rock face he rounded the cliff side and froze in his tracks, eyes widening as he took in the scene. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as goose bumps populated his arms. A shiver ran through him.

"Oof," Mei's voice was barely heard as she came up behind him, nearly bumping into the bulk of his knapsack, but then she too froze, obviously taken in by the display before them.

The valley opened up, wide and expansive, revealing the rift in the mountain, the fault; the rock face was covered with thousand upon thousands of holes. Human shaped holes! Exactly as Honda had seen on TV. Except this was real life. And in real life it was so much more powerful. So much more harrowing.

-to be continued-

* * *

AN:

I ended up using his last name Honda in the narration rather than given name Kiku because I see Japan as the type to not right away become familiar enough to use his first name when making an acquaintance and it shows the reserved aspects of his personality.

Shimane and Tottori are both in the chuugoku region of Japan. Mount Daisen is the tallest mountain in the region. I climbed it once but never made it to the top lol! I chose to set the story in this region due to my own familiarity and because why not! There is a women's college in Matsue, Shimane and Yonago is in no way the "big city" but for someone like the Kiku in this story that's the biggest he's been in.


	2. Depth

Depth

"This is... this is insane," Mei finally breathed behind Honda.

Honda didn't know how to reply to that. He too could barely believe what he was seeing. From where he and Mei were perched above they could see quite a crowd had gathered below. Researchers a local university dispatched used their instruments to measure and examine the holes while curious hikers, likely those drawn to the fault by what they'd see on the television just as Honda and Mei, observed and made their own speculations.

They made their way further down, closer to the enigma before them. The trail opened up into a suitable area to camp and Honda had the feeling that his decision to bring gear was a wise one. There was no way he'd be making a return trip that day. The enormousness of the mystery in front of him pleaded with him to remain until its resolution.

As they walked through the crowd they could hear bits and pieces of the conversations around them.

"Did you hear what the researchers are saying?"

"Even the fiber scope can't find the end."

"N, no way! Isn't it like 30 meters long?"

"There's no end..."

Mei walked close behind him as they walked taking in all of the chatter around them.

"Did you hear that?" she asked. "The scientists haven't even been able to measure how deep the openings are."

Kiku thought over that for a moment before replying, "Do you think it curves off inside the mountain?"

They halted when they came close to where the researchers were working. He could see all of their equipment, various tools and instruments as they attempted to measure different aspects of the formations. There was a bit of a half circle formed around all of the researchers, the observers tacitly knowing to give them space to do their jobs.

Honda crouched near a particularly large bolder and Mei did the same beside him. He squinted at the rocks now much closer. Each hole was different as if carved out using a unique silhouette for each one.

"There is no way that's natural," Mei said in a half whisper, voice quivering in awe.

Honda nodded, "Someone must have dug them out from inside."

"How could you dig this shape out of such solid rock?" replied the girl. "Besides, shouldn't there be some trace of an entrance?"

"We don't know," reasoned Honda. "They could find something like that, right?"

Mei shook her head, frowning as she worked out the puzzle in her own mind. She raised her thumb to her lips, nibbling on the nail in thought.

"My guess is that the entrance was sealed off with the accumulation of sediment and soil over the years, the same forces that covered up these holes," she said at length.

"Then these holes must be ancient," gaped Honda with open amazement. "But that just opens the question of who had the technology to make them?"

There was a pause before he added, "And for what purpose?"

Mei lowered her thumb and sucked her teeth in frustration, brow furrowing.

"Too many questions. We have to get closer!"

She stood and turned, moving past Honda and further down, crawling up a large boulder.

"Mei!" Honda called.

He got up as well and pursued her, climbing as well.

"Careful, Mei! It's steep," he warned.

She didn't heed his warning, instead her face wore the frustration of a person hellbent on figuring out the situation at hand. She kept moving with a speed that sent loose rocks tumbling down on the man behind her as he followed.

"What are you doing?" Honda asked.

He received no answer as Mei continued on looking at the openings and observing them firsthand. They were close enough now to see that not only were they uniquely crafted and shaped into the form of people, the sizes varied too as if tailor made molds from actual humans casts. Honda ignored that last thought as it caused another tremor to crawl through him.

"You look like you're looking for something," Honda said when Mei finally paused.

Her eyes diligently swept across all of the holes that stretched out across the stone rockface.

"On the news... On the TV," began the girl.

"What did you see?" Honda pushed.

Mei dropped down into a seated position. Honda joined her, removing his knapsack to pull out a bottle of water.

Mei sighed heavily and continued, "I only caught a glimpse of it on TV so I came here to make sure I wasn't mistaken. But now that I'm here there's just so many holes and I have no idea where it could be."

"But what's so special about the hole?"

"It..." Mei paused, unsure how to begin.

Honda waited, taking a drink of his water as he did.

She continued, "It was in my shape."

Honda lowered his water bottle slowly, "What?"

"It was identical... no, it was more than that. It was my silhouette!"

"That's... what are you saying?" Honda said.

He saw the way Mei's hands began to tremble.

"It was based on me," she said looking up at him, crossing her arms as a shudder ran through her. "I'm serious!"

"That's impossible," reasoned Honda. "The holes are thousands of years old. Isn't that what all the researchers said? How could the hole be based on you that's kind of..."

"Insane?" Mei asked cutting in.

Honda shook his head, "I was going to say egotistical."

"Don't make fun of me!" Mei said standing.

Her movement almost knocked over Honda's water bottle and he had to reach out to keep from having it fall off the boulder.

"I just know it's me! It doesn't have to make any sense. I mean... what about you?" She turned it back on him. "You can't mean to tell me you came here for no other reason but simple curiosity."

"She's not joking," a voice cut into their conversation causing both heads to whip in the new comer's direction.

The voice came from another man perched upon the boulder above them. He crawled down, joining the two.

"I'm Im Yong Soo," the man greeted towering over the pair.

He was handsome, well built and had a beaming smile.

"Wang Mei," greeted Mei.

"Honda Kiku."

"Nice to meet you both," Yong Soo said. "Why do you look so glum?"

"I..." Mei looked down, rubbing at her arms.

"She says she saw a hole in her shape on TV."

"I know, I heard ya," Yong Soo replied. "It's why I introduced myself. She's not joking, you know. I felt the same way."

"You mean... you saw it too?" Mei said, looking up with wide eyes.

Yong Soo nodded and unlike Mei and Honda, he seemed completely unbothered by the idea of it. Being around the stones didn't fill him with the unease that Honda had or the anxiety that Mei held.

"After I saw it on TV, I came here to look for my hole. Actually, I've spoke to others here."

He gave a sweeping gesture behind him at all the other people who were milling about the place.

"Most of us came here for the same reason. We're all looking for our holes."

"That's just not possible!" interjected Honda. "How does that make any sense? Did you even ask the researchers?"

Yong Soo laughed, "Yeah yeah. I've heard all that stuff about this formation being thousands of years old and only being revealed because of the earthquake opening it up blah blah."

The Korean waved it all away as if it were inconsequential.

"Then how can you be so certain," Honda countered. "That these holes all have living matches."

Yong Soo just scoffed shaking his head at Honda, "Why did you even come here if you don't believe? Well, I'll make you believe because I... finally found mine. My own hole!"

"That's-"

"I did. I found it. You wanna see it?" he asked, looking very proud about it. "It's so exciting I can feel it crawling up from my toes."

"You're not nervous at all?" Mei asked. "It... it freaks me out!"

"Hah, not all! It's like a real life RPG, or anime!"

Honda arched a brow at the comment. He didn't initially get otaku vibes from the other man but that comment showed Honda that Yong Soo had a serious disconnect with reality. He didn't trust him nor his judgement about finding his "own hole".

"I want to see it," Mei finally decided to Honda's surprise.

She was buying into it? He looked at her to read her expression and found, instead of that happy countenance she had when they first met, a look of apprehension.

"Great! Follow me," Yong Soo beamed.

He pushed himself off the rock and lead the way further down. Mei was going so Honda felt he had little choice but to follow. He had only just met the girl, but he felt like they were on the journey together.

It wasn't a long walk before Yong Soo stopped in front of a hole that was obscured slightly by a boulder to the left. The man leaned his arm against the boulder and the other presented the cut out silhouette a bit too proudly.

"This is it," he said. "See how perfectly I fit."

Honda looked from the opening to Yong Soo and back at the hole again.

"You don't look convinced," Yong Soo smirked. "You don't believe me?"

"Forgive me," Honda apologized.

"Well, I don't blame you," chuckled Yong Soo, before unzipping his windbreaker suddenly. "So I guess I'll prove it to you right now!"

Mei exclaimed, "Hey! You don't have to-"

"But I want to!" Yong Soo grinned. "Just watch me. This is my hole."

"That's... that's crazy," Mei interjected balling her fists.

But Yong Soo didn't listen and instead tossed his windbreaker to the side. He proceeded to pull his shirt over his head.

Mei looked over at Honda.

"Honda san! Stop him, why don't you?"

But what was he supposed to do? Yong Soo seemed dead set on proving his point. Honda didn't know how to intervene. He raised his hands in an effort to placate Yong Soo and bring him back down to reality.

"Yong Soo, you don't have to," he said. "What if you get stuck?"

Yong Soo kicked off his pants. Now standing there in just a pair of white briefs Yong Soo just shook his head at Honda and Mei's twin pair of worried expressions.

"That's not going to happen," he replied. "It's my hole after all."

He then turned and Mei and Honda called after him with a shout.

"Yong Soo san!"

Their cries went unheeded and Yong Soo slipped right into his hole as if it were a perfect fit. Had Yong Soo been right all along and the holes were made for them? The very thought landed heavily like a stone in the pit of Honda's stomach as he watched in horror as Yong Soo's body slid further in.

"Hey! Get back here!" Mei screamed, bringing Honda out of his thoughts.

Springing into action, Honda ran up to the hole and reached out.

"Hey" He called reaching is arm into the darkness of the hole.

It was as if Yong Soo were being sucked in. Honda's arm failed to reach him, neglecting even to graze the other with his finger tips.

"Come back here!" he yelled to no avail.

He turned looking around frantically, a small crowd of people having noticed the shouts came closer to observe.

"I can't believe it," a woman said in astonishment. "That guy just went into the hole!"

"I don't know if he can get out!" Honda said frantically to the people gathered.

"Someone call the researchers!" shouted a voice in the crowd.

"Anyone! Call anyone!" Mei said, running up to a woman. "He needs help."

She went back to the entrance of the hole.

"Yong Soo san!" she shouted into the cavity. "Im Yong Soo!"

"Move! Out of the way!"

Mei stepped back from the hole just as a group of researchers approached with gear.

"This is an emergency, coming through!" barked a man with seeming authority.

"He went right in, sir!" Mei said. "We have to do something."

The lead researcher looked at the others and commanded one of his subordinates to call a rescue squad. Mei looked on worriedly and Honda came close, grabbing her shoulders and steering her further from the hole to have a seat on a nearby pile of rocks. She seemed wired and he could feel the tension in her shoulders. He let go as soon as she was seated then looked back over at where Yong Soo had disappeared. The space had become crowded with onlookers and researchers both but Honda could partially see the hole from where they sat.

"Sit here, I'm going to check in on the search," Honda said.

He moved to walk away but Mei stopped him, grabbing onto the bottom of his sleeve.

"D,don't leave me," she said, pulling at his jacket.

Honda contemplated it before wordlessly taking a seat beside Mei. She said nothing as they both watched the researchers send in a fiber scope to search the inner depths of the hole.

"There's no trace of him within 30 meters, sir!" a worker shouted.

Mei hid her face in her knees. That meant he must be further down. The idea of that was unthinkable! Yong Soo had nothing on his person, not even a light.

"Mei," Honda said softly, turning to the girl beside him.

Mei didn't lift her head and he wondered what she was thinking of. Was she also thinking of Yong Soo alone, deep in that pitch dark hole? Or was she thinking about her own hole, gaping and calling?

He tapped her arm and she lifted her head.

"Let's set up a camp. We can check for an update later."

Mei wordlessly stood showing that she would follow Honda in his plan. Honda didn't like the silence. In the short time they'd known each other Mei had been quite chatty.

They walked away from the area and set up their own tents close to each other. There was a weird atmosphere but it was punctuated by a few jokes here in there at Honda's expense when Mei had to show him how to set up his own tent.

"You really are a city boy aren't you?" she teased.

When Honda blushed she just giggled.

"It's OK," she whispered conspiratorially. "I'm a city girl too. Taipei, born and raised."

"Ah," Honda said, trying to imagine this girl in her athletic gear dressed in the cosmopolitan fashion of the big city. "Well, then this is an adventure for the both of us."

"It is," Mei nodded. "And maybe a bigger one than we can possibly chew."

Honda couldn't help but agree.

Hours passed without any true update on the situation. The rescue team was there as well as the news crew. Three hours and the only update was that there was none. The rescue squad had attempted a rescue without much success even with the smallest of the members trying to go in. After 5 meters he retreated.

Night fell and all Honda could think was how crazy Yong Soo must have been to even attempt going into the hole. In his tent Honda laid in his sleeping bag staring up at the roof alone in the silence. He only had his thoughts. They plagued him with questions but no answers.

His mind alternated between Yong Soo's confident grin as he slipped into that hole, tailor made for his frame, and Mei who in the hours after Yong Soo's disappearance became more fraught and pale with dread and anxiety. A cold sweat lingered on her brow as she shivered in fear, eyes wide and distraught.

Sleep didn't come easy that night.

* * *

It was pitch black but that didn't stop Honda from instinctually knowing where he was. His limbs were splayed out in 4 directions and all around him he felt the cold stone of the tunnel. But unlike Yong Soo who slipped right in and kept moving, Honda was stuck. He couldn't move.

He tried to push forward but was met with resistance. The space was too narrow for him, deformed by the quake perhaps.

His heart rate quickened as he fought futilely against his confines. Grunting he attempted to twist and turn every which way but no matter what he was trapped! His breathing increased and he gasped for air but the effort did nothing for him.

"S,someone anyone!" he shouted into the darkness. "Help me!"

Release!

Honda's body was hurtled forward. He was back in his tent, sitting up, swaddled in the sleeping bag. Safe and free.

The sleeping bag was suffocating and he fought his way out of it violently, undoing the zipper and freeing his arms. Panting he took in deep breaths to steady his breathing and heart.

'Just a dream, a nightmare,' Honda told himself, staring at the green siding of his tent. He wiped a clammy hand down the front of his sweating face.

'Yong Soo... is he still down there, writhing in that place?'

His mind immediately brought him back to his dream, body restricted by stone in the dark hallow of the mountain side. Naked and utterly alone.

He quivered from the thought.

'I have to find out.'

Kicking off the rest of the sleeping bag, Honda crawled towards the entrance of his tent. He unzipped the flap and peeked out only to gasp upon seeing Mei standing in front of him.

"Y,you're up," he said. "Good morning."

The way she stood, Honda knew that nothing good came was going to come out of that morning. She was wringing her hands, a bundle of tension and nerves.

"He's still gone, isn't he?" Honda asked, already knowing the answer.

She looked down, nodding as Honda pulled himself the rest of the way out of his tent. Honda turned to rezip is flap and when he finally stood up Mei looked like she had more to say.

"I need to show you something," she began, voice steady despite the way her fingers still tugged at one another. "I found it. I found my hole."

-to be continued-


	3. Beckon

Beckon

"This is it."

Mei had led Honda further down along near the foot of the fault. It was an area they hadn't been able to examine the previous day. There she found her hole, cut out to fit her form with eerie precision. They stopped and Honda was able to scan the entrance of the human shaped passage carefully, from the top of the head to the bottom of the feet.

"Well, it does look like you," he concluded at length, voice calm despite the overwhelming strangeness of it all.

"Cut it out, Honda san. You see it just as I do," Mei retorted. "It's identical to me."

Honda glanced over at his companion and saw her visibly shaking as she stared at the hole with wide eyes. Like the previous day, she quivered and a sweat began to break on her forehead. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the gaping passage.

"Mei," Honda said, alarm dripping from his voice.

He grabbed her by the elbow to get her attention but her eyes refused to turn away from the hole.

"What's wrong?" he pressed. "You're shaking."

"This is my hole," restated Mei. "They dug it for me."

"They?" Honda's eyebrows furrowed with confusion.

Mei didn't answer instead shaking her head violently and repeating, "I'm scared. I'm scared."

"It's only a coincidence," assured Honda, hoping to pacify his companion. "It just happens to look a little like you."

She couldn't be calmed.

"This is mine! I know it. I feel it. It was made for me to enter. It's been waiting for me all that time, even when it was underground. And when I go in I'll be trapped in this hole just like Im Yong Soo!"

"Mei!" Honda shouted, trying to get the girl to snap out of her spiral of fear.

He grabbed her other elbow as well this time and pulled her body so that she faced his and was turned away from the rock wall. At last, their eyes met and he could see in those depths the extent of her horror. It clouded her ability to think clearly and instead was guiding her brain into a fogged state.

"Mei," he said again in an attempt to bring her back down to his level.

"OVER THERE! Look!"

Mei and Honda both snapped their heads to the sounds of the shouting. A crowd had formed, just as it did yesterday, around a portion of the fault. A man had climbed up onto one of the higher levels of the fault making an obvious path towards a hole.

"What's that kid doing?" asked a bystander.

A rescue worker came rushing past Mei and Honda towards the scene.

"Get down there before you hurt yourself!" he shouted.

The man on the ledge looked down from his perch at the feet of one of the holes.

"This is my hole!" he shouted. "It was made for me! Have to go in!"

He pulled himself the rest of the way and just as Im Yong Soo's did, his body slipped with easy into the orifice.

"Fuck!" the voices of the bystanders could be heard. "Somebody stop him!"

But there was nothing to be done. The man's body slid right into the hole, as if he'd been correct all along. It was made for him.

Honda's head swirled and he felt his legs go a little weak from what he had witnessed. He worried about what could be next and he could hear that those around him felt much the same. They voiced their anxious thoughts aloud; what if others followed them? What if they entered the holes?

"Look! Someone else went in!"

Whipping his head Honda saw as all around them people dissolved into panic. Here, there and every which way those who had found their holes made the decision to enter them as if heeding some beckoning call.

Honda tightened his grip on Mei's forearms as her legs collapsed beneath her. He settled with her against the rocks.

"I'm scared. I'm so..." Mei wheezed and squeezed her eyes shut. "I'm going to have to enter that hole. I'm going to die there, inside that hole."

"No, Mei. Listen to me," Honda cut in, keeping his hold on her in an attempt to keep her grounded.

She was curled now on her side, leaning against a particularly large boulder. Honda's body was like a shield, blocking her from the sights all around her, of the people answering that horrific call from the depths, and most importantly the hole which tormented her.

"You'll be all right. Don't worry."

Mei shook her head and opened her eyes, looking past Honda's shoulder at her own hole despite his attempts of blocking it.

"It's no good. It's just gaping at me. It's saying. 'come in. come into me.' That's what it's saying."

Honda was at a complete loss as to how to comfort her. All around them were groups of people like himself, attempting to prevent their companions from giving way to the maddening voice of the holes.

"I'm so scared. Oh, god! I'm so scared!" Mei pulled away with surprising strength, turning to throw her arms against the rocks. She leaned against the boulder as if to hide herself away.

"Get a hold of yourself!" came Honda's final plea.

It was of no use. Mei broke into a manic sob.

The sight sprung Honda into action. He rose to his feet and returned to the hole, Mei's hole. Bending down he found some fairly large stones and began to stack them at the feet of the tunnel. The intention was to fill it. If Mei was terrified of the hole, so be it, he'd erase it. He'd be rid of the horrid thing at once! If she were so scared, he'd help her.

Mei pulled herself upright. She still shook as she watched his slow work. His attempt to fill the hole in with various bits of debris brought a marginal amount of security. Yet she couldn't help but still feel dread.

At last Honda finished his work. He set in the last large stone into the space at the crown of the silhouettes head with a sigh of pure exhaustion. When he returned to Mei's side she was pale and there was still a tremble in her hands but the mania had passed. He crouched down and touched his hand to hers, feeling the icy coldness of it.

"There see?" He said. "You're safe now."

Mei said nothing, only nodded speechlessly without looking in his eyes. Instead her eyes were fixed on the filled in area.

"Mei," he tried again.

She met his gaze this time.

"It's been a full day since Im Yong Soo disappeared," she said.

Honda pressed his lips into a line, unsure anymore how to comfort her when he too knew nothing of the mystery at hand.

"Let's go back to camp."

He stood, but when he went to let go of her hand, Mei didn't let him.

* * *

Nightfall came and with the darkness most of the onlookers retreated into their tents. Mei and Honda were no different. Honda's tent was their place of choice to spend the evening. With the flashlight on, so close together that their thighs touched, they sat. Mei was hunched forward with her hands tucked beneath her knees. Honda's arm was slung around her shoulders despite her tremors having died down.

"Don't you have to go back to your tent?" he asked.

It was getting late and he was tired.

Mei's replied with a shake of her head, "I'm too scared to be alone."

"Don't worry. I'm here with you."

"I can stay here?" she asked.

"Of course."

Mei's body sagged in relief and her head fell to a rest upon Honda's shoulder. A comfortable silence lapsed between them, just as it had before and Honda welcomed it, just as he would Mei's next words.

"In Taiwan it's just me and my older brother Yao," she began. "For as long as I remember big brother's taken care of me. He's not that much older but because our father left us alone he had to quit school and help by taking a job. Because of him I'm here in Japan. He sacrificed so I can continue my education. Because of the stress, I want to yell at him over the phone and tell him he's bothersome but all I do is say thank you. I can't tell him my true feelings. Secretly, I'm sorry because I can't tell him that really I'm miserable here, and lonely. My friends don't care about me and my brother is too busy to really listen or care about how I feel. As long as I seem happy, it's all that matters."

Mei let out a sad laugh that vibrated through his arm from where she rest.

"Isn't it silly? And now I'm here. He doesn't even know where I am."

Honda looked down at the top of Mei's head with sad eyes.

"Mei," he said, beginning his reply. "It's not silly. Don't you see, you're afraid of that hole because you've been lonely. There's nothing lonelier in this world than that hole, like a symbol of everything you've been holding in."

"You have nothing to worry about though," Honda finished. "Now that I'm with you. And tomorrow we can leave this place. Together."

Mei lifted her head at that, meeting Honda's eyes with her own, filled with renewed hope.

"Really?"

"Yes," he said.

He touched his hand to the bottom of Mei's chin. She accepted, leaning into the touch, never breaking their gaze.

"Honda san?"

"Yes?"

"Can I call you Kiku?"

There was only a slight hesitation. It had been years since anyone outside of his family circle called him his given name. But it only took a second or so of searching for him to know he didn't mind.

"Of course."

Mei allowed herself her first smile in hours.

"Kiku san," she whispered as their lips met.

* * *

Honda found himself in another time, many eras ago. He didn't know when per say, but he could get a sense that he'd done a terrible crime. Standing in only the minimum of clothing and with both wrists bound behind his back. he awaited punishment.

Daisen rose out of the sky, looming over him and giving judgement. Death was his sentence. Countless holes for the criminals executed before him had been dug into the side of the rockface, all different sizes and with mind boggling precision.

The last hole was his. He did not see his executor nor did he know for what crime he was being punished. All he could see was the gaping cavern cut in his image.

The bindings on his wrist were cut and then he was pushed forward. Like the countless others who endured this fate before him he slipped right in with no choice but to move forward. Darkness swallowed and claustrophobia consumed him within the tight space. The carvings on the wall didn't allow him to back out of retreat, instead pushing, pulling him further and further in like some sick and strange esophagus. Slowy, slowly, with each movement he made he went deeper, deeper still.

And just as slowly as he moved so did the contours of his hole change. It started as a tug at his neck and to his horror his neck stretched along with it. It pulled tightly even past the point where it should tear off. But not just his neck. His toso, his arms, legs, everything was pulled and pulled just as his screams were pulled from his throat, echoing in the eternity of the darkness.

"Someone! Anyone! Help me!"

Honda started awake in a sweat. Sitting up he gasped for breath, taking in as much oxygen as he could into his lungs before burying his head in his hands.

Another nightmare.

It felt so real and vivid. It had been dark but he could feel every single bit of it. Rubbing his face, he lowered his arms and glanced beside him at Mei, only to find she was gone. Had she gone back to her own tent when he'd fallen asleep? He knew he couldn't fall back to sleep with the nightmare fresh in his mind.

He crawled out of his tent with his flashlight and surveyed the campground. Mostly all of the other tents were dark including Mei's. He zipped the flap of his own tent closed and then walked over the Mei's.

"Mei," he called in a faux whisper.

He paused, waiting her reply before rapping at the front of her tent and then opening it. Shining the flashlight in, it only took one sweep of the light to know the tent was empty.

"No... she couldn't. She wouldn't," Honda said, eyes widening with a sick realization.

Without another moment of hesitation Honda had broke into a run towards the area Mei had brought him earlier. As his feet carried him he held his flashlight steady and shouted her name.

"Mei! Wang Mei!"

He skidded to a stop in front of the area and pointed his flashlight at the general area of where Mei identified her personal hole. All of the rocks he had used to plug it in were piled up around the feet, confirming his worst fear. The rocks had been removed! She took them out!

"Mei!"

He sprinted to the hole shining his light into the dark tunnel. The darkness was so dense it was impenetrable by the light.

"MEI!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Come back!"

His voice didn't even echo back at him. Just like the light the darkness fully engulfed it. Honda found that he was shaking now. The hand holding the flashlight was unsteady, just as his legs, and he allowed himself to slide against the rock face. He slumped against the entrance of the tunnel in defeat, shoulders heavy with guilt.

"Why?" he asked into the night. "Why did you do it?"

He beat the butt of the flashlight against the rocks in frustration and ran quivering fingers through ragged hair.

"Why?"

Just when he was thinking they had best get out of there, leave everything behind and just forget about it. Now he knew he'd never be able to get it out of his head.

He turned so that he could sit with his back against the rocks. With knees brought up to his chest he sat in idle grief. Mei had been so happy and cheerful on their climb, but the fault had robbed that spirit from her, turning her into a terrified trembling shell of herself.

She didn't deserve that. None of the others who were sucked into that dark abyss did either.

Honda folded his arms over his knees and as he mourned his grip slipped, causing his flashlight to fall from his grasp. It rolled unhindered and then stopped as it wedged itself against a small pile of rocks. Honda tilted his head towards the flashlight trying to will himself into retrieving it. His eyes traced the path of the light and was shocked by what he saw.

As if by some horrible cosmic design, a divine will against him, the beam of light formed a perfect circle of illumination on Honda's very own form! A perfect silhouette carved into the wall of the fault.

He stood.

"This is..."

He crossed the distance between him and the cavern.

"This is my hole."

He knew then there was no other outcome than this. Mei was right and so was Yong Soo. Laying his eyes upon his hole he felt that beckoning call. The inescapableness of his fate became clear. Yong Soo had accepted it with enthusiasm, running into the cold depths of his destiny without delay. Then there was Mei who had resisted, paralyzed with abject fear and terror, but eventually yielding to the pull.

Honda felt a numbness was over him. Eyes half lidded he stood transfixed. It wasn't a voice that called to him, yearning for him to enter. He wouldn't be able to explain it if he had to. He just knew, the same as all the others.

Im Yong Soo met the hole with enthusiasm. Wang Mei with uncertainty. Perhaps that was how they approached their life. Honda Kiku approached with compliant surrender.

-3 Months Later-

"Professor, here it is!"

Following the voices the team of 3 researchers caught up with their associates on the other side of the cliff.

"Ah, just as that climber informed us," said an assistant with a green hard hat, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "There's a fault on this side of the mountain as well."

"I'm sure it was formed by the earthquake," the professor and leader of the squad nodded. "Though we'll need to do more research to be sure."

The group of researchers approached meeting up with the 2 scouts who went ahead. As they came closer they took note of patterns on the wall. There were holes as well but the new fault was unlike the one discovered on the other side of Daisen. They snaked across the surface. Each hole, if it could be called that, took the shape of spindly limbs extending out from a crude center. There were 5 limbs each stretching out in a way that showed no pattern or fashion and tapering off to an end before another such hole would begin.

"They're not human shaped," said one of the assistants, scribbling something in a notebook.

A comrade came up beside her.

"They don't really have any form," noted the man in the green hard hat. "I wonder if they have any connection to the holes on the other side."

"I'll take a look," replied the woman.

She reached onto the side of her belt and pulled out her flashlight. She stepped closer to rockface and touched it. With a flick of her thumb she clicked on her flashlight and pointed it right into the opening. She peeked in, her breath immediately catching in her throat as her eyes ballooned in shock.

Within the darkness she could see its approach. A hideous stretched mass of flesh. Contorted it oozed forward, voiceless despite the way its disfigured and taunt mouth hung open. It peeked back at her through unseeing white eyes as it ebbed closer and closer, slipping against the rocks.

The flashlight dropped.

Her scream echoed through the mountains.

-END-

AN: Thanks for reading! Any feedback would be great because it was my first time trying to adapt something and it was actually not so easy. Let me know what you think and what I could fix.

This story is based on "The Enigma of Amigara Fault" by Junji Ito if you want to read! It's good! Better than my story :)


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